Muesli vs Oats: The Crystal Clear Explanation

Muesli vs Oats: Which one is better? Are they both the same or different? These questions are in the mind of people on their weight loss journey, and oats and Muesli are the two most common healthy breakfast options. Often, most people on their weight loss journey are confused with the question of Muesli vs Oats. So, let’s go in-depth to understand this muesli vs oats paradox.

What are Oats?

Oats are completely natural and unprocessed food, and it is a gluten-free whole grain that is rolled to be converted into flakes and needs to be cooked. Oats are commonly consumed in the form of oatmeal, and it is mostly eaten warm.

What is Muesli?

Muesli is a developed cereal combination of oats, nuts, dry fruits, seeds, etc. It is one of the most popular healthy-breakfast options. It comes in different flavours like multi-grain, berries & dry fruits, chocolate, etc. A Swiss nutritionist invented it, and one can consume it with hot/cold milk or yoghurt.

Difference between Muesli and Oats: | Muesli vs Oats: The main difference

In our day-to-day life, people fight over the Muesli vs Oats debate. We often start to wonder if there is any difference between the two most popular healthy breakfast options? Well, to find the answer to the question, we will do a comparison of Muesli vs Oats on different parameters. 

1. Taste:

Taste is one of the important factors we look at while deciding which breakfast to eat, which lunch to have, and which drink to consume. When it comes to the Muesli vs Oats debate, Muesli is tastier than Oats, and Muesli has a lot of additional ingredients like dried fruits, added sugar, hot/cold milk, or yoghurt. Compared to Muesli, Oats, on the other hand, is monotonous in terms of taste since it does not have any additional ingredients.

2. Nutritional Values:

100 gms of Oats contains 389 calories, 10.6 fibre with 16.9 proteins. It also includes multiple vitamins like B6, B12, Thiamin, Niacin, Riboflavin, and Folate. It also contains minerals like Manganese, Magnesium, Sodium, Copper, Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Zinc, and Phosphorus.

On the other hand, 100 gms of Muesli (with dried fruits and nuts) contains 340 calories, 9.7g of protein with 7.3g of fibre. It contains vitamins like Riboflavin, Folate, Niacin, and vitamins A, E, K, B6, and B12. It is rich in minerals such as Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc, Manganese, and Selenium.

Contents (per 100g)	Oats	Muesli
Calories	389	340
Fiber	10.6g	7.3g
Proteins	16.9g	9.7g
Vitamins	B6 (0.1 mg), B12, Thiamin (0.8 mg), Niacin (1.0 mg),Riboflavin (0.1 mg), Folate (56 mcg)	A (546 IU), E (7.2 mg), K (2.9 mcg), B6 (1.2 mg), B12 (3.6 mcg), Niacin (12.1 mg), Folate (243 mcg), Riboflavin (1.0 mg)
Minerals	Manganese (4.9 mg), Magnesium (177 mg), Sodium (2.0 mg), Copper (0.6 mcg), Calcium (54.0 mg), Iron (4.7 mg), Potassium (429 mg), Zinc (4.0 mg),  Phosphorus (523 mg)	Iron (8.7 mg), Magnesium (78.0 mg), Phosphorus (243 mg), Potassium (486 mg), Sodium (231 mg), Zinc (3.6 mg), Selenium (17.3 mcg), Manganese (2.2 mg)

Overall, the winner of Muesli vs Oats on the parameter of Nutritional values is Oats, as it has more nutritional value if consumed without additional ingredients.

3. Benefits

Oats are a low-calorie food that slows down digestion and makes us feel full for a longer period of the day. It is enriched with dietary fibre, which helps in digest the food. Also, helps in lowers the human body’s cholesterol since it contains soluble and insoluble fibre. It also helps in controlling body glucose levels. Contains many essential vitamins like Manganese, Magnesium, Sodium, Copper, Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Zinc, and Phosphorus. It has been found that eating oats in breakfast helps in curing asthma. Also, relieves constipation since it has fibres that aid digestion. It also contains a rich amount of antioxidants, including avenanthramides (formerly called ‘avenalumins’), that help lower blood pressure.

Muesli is lower in calories than Oats and contains less sugar, a high amount of fibre, and whole grains. Consuming Muesli for breakfast helps in increasing metabolism. Muesli can reduce cholesterol levels by up to 10 per cent with the help of beta-glucan, which eventually helps keep the heart healthy. Muesli is enriched in Omega-3 fatty acids and various vitamins like Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc, Manganese, and Selenium. If you consume Muesli with milk, it increases the protein content of your meal. It helps with the burning of fats. Muesli helps relieve oxidative stress and prevent cell damage due to free radicals in the body. The reason behind it is that it is enriched in antioxidants.

So, the result for Muesli vs Oats in terms of benefits is almost near to a draw since both are considered as essentials for good health.

The problem associated with Muesli

Muesli usually contains additional ingredients, which include an extra amount of sugar. It is also laden with excess fats, carbohydrates, and unnecessary calories, making this healthy breakfast food unhealthy. In the long term, this problem can become a significant barrier in your weight loss journey. So, to avoid this, one should stick with the basics rather than adding additional ingredients whose purpose is only to add the taste to the food. And give pleasure to taste buds at the cost of extra calories, sugar, and carbs. Following are the factors that make Muesli unhealthy as compared to Oats:

1. Toasted ingredients are being used in making muesli.

2. Muesli should be a blend of healthy fats.

3. Low glycemic index.

4. Low in saturated fat.

5. Overuse of dry fruits results in excessive sugar and fats.

6. Consuming carbohydrate content that is more than 20 grams per serving.

7. The Serving size should not be more than 1/3-1/2 cup.

Conclusion: The better option from Muesli vs Oats in the weight loss journey

Well, it depends on your personal preferences. If you want to eat healthily and do not bother much about the taste, then you should go with Oats as your breakfast option since it is relatively more healthy than Muesli.

But, if you are someone who values your taste buds and are dedicated at the same time to eating healthy, then you should go with Muesli as your breakfast meal. Muesli has various types which you can eat alternatively, so you will not get bored of eating the same food every day. And you will happily keep eating a healthy breakfast option.

There is one other way which is considered a more balanced way, and it is more effective, and at the same time, you get to satisfy your taste buds as well. You should eat Oats for three days and then eat Muesli only for a day in your breakfast. Keep repeating this cycle. In this way, in a week, you will be eating oats for six days and Muesli for one day. This method of adapting the breakfast controls your diet in terms of nutritional value, and at the same time, you will get to eat tasty and healthy options as well.